Winston howled, and the wolves answered.

  The deer surrounding him stepped back in surprise at his sudden outburst, but after nothing happened, they relaxed.

  Winston ignored the pain in his chest as he howled at the sky. When his lungs were empty, he collapsed back onto his side and waited. He was practically out of food energy and far too injured to be able to put up a fight. Now, his survival hinged on whether or not the wolves were coming. And even if they did, whether or not they would come in time.

  Winston used every last drop of his energy, forming three golden projectiles. He couldn’t recycle energy, so he just stopped maintaining the sled and tendrils, letting them slowly fade away.

  The buck leaped at him, but Winston shot a bolt of energy, striking it in the chest and driving it away. But even as he fought off one attack, another came. Winston let out a soft oomph as a hoof struck him in the back, forcing the air out of his lungs. He fell forward, whimpering in pain. He launched another projectile at the doe that had struck him, but it danced out of the way.

  With his last projectile, Winston chose not to launch it. Instead, he reshaped it into a small blade, each edge razor-sharp. It wouldn’t be nearly as effective as his projectiles, but it would last longer. He wasn’t sure exactly how it worked, but when he launched his projectiles, they would only last one or two hits at most. Perhaps it was how fast or hard they hit their target? Winston didn’t know.

  With his blade circling menacingly around him, Winston faced the herd. One after another, they leaped at him. Winston managed to fend off some of their attacks, but not all. He was struck again and again by their heavy hooves.

  Winston knew what they were doing. It was exactly what he’d done with the wolves just earlier. They were making sure they would all get some experience for killing him. Just like how he’d split the experience from the moose with the wolves.

  Winston howled again, straining his tiny lungs to their limit. Each time his blade struck one of the deer, it lost energy. And as it made contact with the matriarch once more, it shattered, leaving no evidence it had ever existed, but for a single drop of blood dripping down the beast’s leg.

  Winston whimpered desperately as the doe advanced. It lifted a hoof over him, slamming it down. Winston coughed up blood as the deer stomped on his chest, breaking yet another rib. Winston rolled out of the way of the next strike, but it still grazed his injured leg, sending waves of pain wreaking havoc through his body.

  The deer brought its hoof down on him over and over. Winston curled up in a ball, whimpering, There was no point in fighting. It was over. Around him, the rest of the deer moved in to join their leader…

  Winston yelped as he was struck on the side. If he’d put more energy into the sled and tendrils on his back, he could’ve fought with them. Alas, he’d barely been able to maintain them earlier, and they’d dissipated seconds after he’d stopped.

  Winston braced for yet another strike, but it never came. Instead of his body getting assaulted, his ears were. A massive roar shook the clearing, followed by countless others. Even as Winston flinched in alarm, a sense of comfort washed over him. The pack was here.

  ?? ′?? ? ??` ??

  Winston lay in the cave, eyes closed. It was embarrassing, really. He’d been in the pack for barely more than a day, and they’d already had to rescue him. Winston wasn’t tired; he’d just slept. Still, he kept his eyes closed just so he wouldn’t have to bear the condescending looks from the mothers around him.

  They’d treated him kindly, but all the while acting as though he were a foolish puppy. Winston shifted. At least the pups had given him back his mana stone. The warmth it radiated provided a small comfort against the incessant pain.

  Winston let out a yowl as a pup landed on his back. His eyes snapped open, and he glared daggers at the tiny wolf. The pup was the same scrawny one he’d played with earlier. Winston sighed. He supposed it was his fault for engaging in the first place, not the pup’s for wanting to play. It didn’t know any better.

  One of the nearby she-wolves—presumably the pup’s mother—approached, picking the scrawny pup up by the scruff and glancing apologetically at Winston.

  His wounds were mostly healed, with only his broken bones left to ail him. Bored, Winston checked the System Shop, looking for something that would help him heal. He had 1551 credits to his name. Winston sighed. He wanted to keep saving for [Energy Conversion Core], which was 3750 credits, but he also wanted something that could help him heal.

  Winston skimmed through the skills section of the shop, but all of the healing abilities were out of his price range. After a while, he moved over to the items section. The only thing he could find was an inscribed mana stone for 440 credits. It was similar to his other mana stone that generated heat. He had to infuse it with energy, and it would emit an aura that sped up healing by 40%.

  Winston cringed at the price, but bought in anyway. As the stone appeared before him, his credits dropped down to 1111.

  Winston poured energy into the stone. It was greedy, devouring every drop and then asking for more. Winston growled in annoyance but continued channeling. The stone took far more energy than his thermal one, draining everything that he’d recovered since he’d been injured.

  Curling up around the stone, Winston closed his eyes. He could sense the energy flowing from it being absorbed by his body.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  ?? ′?? ? ??` ??

  Winston yawned, standing up. It’d been two days since he’d fought the fox—he assumed; it was hard to tell when it was eternally daytime outside. His leg was still sore, but he could put his full weight on it without much issue.

  As for his ribs, they’d healed as well, but they were still sore to the touch.

  Winston stretched and began to slowly walk. A day earlier, the alpha had come and asked him what’d happened. Winston was still getting the hang of communicating through barks, but he thought he’d gotten his point across—that he’d been attacked by the fox.

  The pack had just left on another hunting trip. Winston had tried to join, but the alpha hadn’t let him, forcing him back to bed. Winston sighed. Hopefully, he’d be able to join the next one.

  Wandering outside, Winston looked around. A dozen yards from him was a pile of bones and antlers. The wolves ate the bones of their prey, chewing them into small pieces, but they always left some.

  Walking over to the pile, Winston began consuming the bones. When the alpha had visited him, Winston had asked if he could use the bones, and the wolf hadn’t cared. One after another, the chunks of bone disappeared, their energy flowing into him.

  When Winston was done, all that remained were a few shattered shards buried in the snow. As he turned around to head back, Winston took in the beauty of the snowy mountainside. It was finally warm enough for the snow to begin melting. The sheen of water on top of the snow enhanced the beauty, but also the glare. Winston blinked and turned away as the brilliant snow reflected into his eyes.

  Stepping back into the cave, Winston waddled back to his bed and lay down, wincing as a lance of pain shot from his chest. Closing his eyes, he entered his soulspace.

  As always, Winston took a moment to take in his soulspace. It was peaceful, serene. A stark contrast to the outside world.

  Stepping up to his bowls, Winston glanced at the mist swirling above him. The swirling cloud was large, but Winston doubted it would be enough to get him to Acolyte 2. Instead, Winston decided to increase his stats.

  He closed his eyes, imagining himself biting down on the mist. The emerald clouds put up a fierce resistance, but Winston persevered, clenching his jaw. Slowly, his water bowl filled with the pristine water. When the cloud was gone, Winston fell to his side, exhausted. He braced for the familiar pain in his ribs, but none came. Winston tilted his head. Did injuries not affect him in his soulspace?

  After a moment of rest, Winston opened his status screen.

  Race: Corgi

  Class: Relentless Consumer (Unique)

  Rank: Acolyte 1

  Soul Shards (1/?):

  Devour (Unique)

  Titles (3/5):

  Non-Humanoid Progenitor

  [Redacted]

  Modified

  Food Energy: 674/700

  Stats:

  Strength: 30

  Dexterity: 36

  Toughness: 36

  Charisma: 55

  Stomach: 70

  Mind: 55

  Free Points: 21

  Active Skills (3/10):

  Consume lvl 9

  Channel Food Energy lvl 9

  Mental Manipulation lvl 2

  Passive Skills (2/10):

  Enhanced Stomach lvl 5

  Passive Charm lvl 10

  Twenty-one points wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, either. Winston supposed it would have to do. He tilted his head to the side, trying to decide how to distribute his stats. His battle with the fox had shown him that he needed to increase his Toughness. At the same time, if he’d had a higher Stomach stat, he might’ve been able to block the attack altogether.

  A moment later, Winston put fourteen points into Stomach and seven into Toughness. With that done, Winston curled up. Hopefully, he’d be healed in another day. Winston wanted to join the wolves in their next hunt.

  ?? ′?? ? ??` ??

  Winston woke, yawning as he stood. Taking a tentative step, Winston found that despite his hopes, he was far from healed. Still, he could feel how much his injuries had improved. Winston sighed. It was going to be a slow day.

  Picking up his manastone, Winston stored it in his spatial ring before heading out. In the main cavern, he found the rest of the wolves eating the corpse of a deer. One of them ripped off a chunk of venison and tossed it to Winston before returning to its meal. Winston used [Consume], absorbing the energy and satiating his hunger. He still couldn’t get over his repulsion of eating raw meat. He didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t. It was different from biting something; it just felt intrinsically wrong.

  Winston had tried it before, but had spit it out before he could even taste it. He didn’t know why it was—he was perfectly fine with eating cooked meat. Was it the blood? Winston didn’t know.

  As he sat, he tried to think of something to do. He wanted to grow stronger, but he couldn’t hunt, and it wasn’t like there were endless supplies of valuable items to consume. Winston froze. Why couldn’t he just consume the stone around him? It wouldn’t give him much energy, but if he consumed enough…

  Winston tilted his head. The sleeping area of the cave was large, but it was still overcrowded. About half the room was covered in dirt, with most of the sleeping spots dug into there. But there just wasn’t enough room. Some wolves, like the alpha, slept on the cold stone on the other side of the cavern.

  Slowing making his way back to the sleeping area, Winston got to work. The dirt was strange; it was just a small strip in the middle of the stone cave. Winston squinted at it accusingly. Stepping to where dirt met rock, Winston used [Consume]. A chunk of stone disappeared, revealing more dirt a few inches beneath the snow.

  Winston yipped smugly. He’d known there’d be more dirt underneath. Winston moved to the wall, beginning to consume the stone. Sure enough, after about a foot, he found more soil. Winston yipped again. It was time to get to work.

  ?? ′?? ? ??` ??

  Winston growled in a mixture of annoyance and amusement as the pups ran around him, barking excitedly and distracting him from his work.

  Several adult wolves were gathered around as well, watching him in wonder.

  Doing his best to ignore the hyper-energetic pups, Winston continued consuming the stone. He’d almost cleared enough room for all the wolves to have spots to sleep. He’d only needed to make enough room for a few more, so it hadn’t taken too long.

  Winston yowled as something crashed into his side, sending a jolt of pain through his body. Turning, he batted the tiny pup away. Despite the pain, Winston just couldn’t be angry at the tiny wolf. It reminded him so much of himself—the runt of the litter. It’d been a while since he’d thought about it, but just like the pup, he’d been the smallest and the weakest of his siblings.

  Winston sighed. He didn’t have many memories of them. One after another, they’d all been taken by the families until it was only him left in the shelter. He’d almost been fully grown when his humans had finally found him.

  Still, Winston couldn’t work with the pups constantly pestering him. He put up barriers of energy around him and got back to work. He could feel his body slowly knitting itself together. He was so close to being fully healed, but just not quite there.